The news that Tom Hicks and George Gillett seem to be talking to each other again should not have been news in the first place. Why both owners have allowed personal issues to get in the way of what should be a collective goal of the club’s welfare is beyond me. It also suggests that their priorities lie elsewhere as their spat showed scant regard for this.

Speaking on a Canadian Radio station Gillett said.

“Time is a healer and there were things that had happened previously. It took a while for both of us to realise that we weren’t communicating very well and the huge responsibility we have to the fans to do the right thing for the club…. Soccer is the leading sport in the world and it’s just shocking how popular Liverpool is. So it surprised me, but it really is an amazing responsibility. We’ve always felt that for the 40-plus years I’ve been around professional sport that we really hold these assets in trust for the fans and that we have an obligation to the fans.”

All very nice if a little patronising, using the fans as a PR ploy again, however the cold facts are that this shouldn’t have happened. Perhaps now they can concentrate on the issues in hand, be professional, and start delivering? They have a hell of a lot of work to do to win over the fans.

Moving on and I was slightly, but not necessarily unpleasantly, surprised to read in the papers yesterday that Rafa was in the market for David Silva. True Rafa needs a wide man and Harry Kewell and Jermaine Pennant’s future have been questioned this summer. However, it is the price that I thought would be prohibitive.

Silva is valued by Valencia at £20m however, it seems that with Valencia needing the cash, they are funding a new stadium (sounds familiar) and are being hit hard by the associated interest payments, Rafa feels he might be able to persuade them to drop the price? We also have a small advantage over other clubs who join the race for Silva as he is close to Eduardo Macia, our chief scout.

Even allowing for this it seems Rafa will still need to sell to raise the funds thus intensifying speculation about the futures of Peter Crouch, Scott Carson Xabi Alonso. He also needs to finance the Barry and Dossena deals. All this puts more pressure on the likes of Rick Parry to get the right price be it buying or selling? Does the news also mean that the David Bentley and James Milner trails ahve gone cold or is Rafa just widening his options?

The acquisition of Silva would add intrigue and confusion and in equal amounts! Silva is a versatile player. He can play wide, on both flanks, or up front so it also raises questions about Rafa’s first choice line up next season? Either way it would seem that Silva’s arrival would be bad news for Jermaine Pennant who, having been nudged out by Dirk Kuyt on the flank towards the end of last season and despite stating that he wishes to stay at Liverpool, must now feel his chances of first team football next season are even slimmer?

Any hopes of seeing David Villa in a Liverpool shirt next season appear to be vain ones. One wonders if Rafa hasn’t been in for Villa because he doesn’t suit the way he wants to play. Recently Torres has been on his own up front with Gerrard behind and Babel and Kuyt wide. This current, favoured line up wouldn’t guarantee both Torres and Villa a place? Anyway this seems academic (for now?) as Villa has said.

“My club insists I am not for sale and, believe me, I am totally focused on the European Championships. As far as I know, nobody from Liverpool has been in touch, but in any case my future is not something I have in my mind at the moment. I always say the same thing. Nobody from Valencia has told me that I am for sale.”

Although some players haven’t had a chance to take their holidays yet, pre season diaries are already looking full. So far we’ve got: July 16: FC Lucerne (Grenchen), July 19: Wisla Krakow (Friborg), July 22 Hertha Berlin (Berlin), July 30: Villarreal (Villarreal), August 2: v Rangers (Glasgow)

It’s nice to see us playing Rangers again. I think the last time we played up at Ibrox was in the eighties? I’m not sure if the two games in Switzerland are part of a tournament it seems a little early and I suspect one will be shoehorned in before the opening day on 16h August?

Finally we’ve also harked back to the late eighties and early nineties by bringing back the silver/grey way kit click hereto see it and the new first kit, actually given the circumstances, shouldn’t it be “Silva”?